Reviews by freneticamnesic:

A - poured thick and black, syrupy, with a very thin dark brown head that dissipated rather quickly

S - Hard to detect much in this one. I did smell some coffee or roast malts, but it was very very subtle

T - Tastes of toffee, brown sugar, some hoppiness and dark fruits at first, finishing with some very nice coffee and a hint of hop bitterness at the end

M - Creamy, moderate carbonation. Very smooth and full. Really what I like in an imperial stout

Overall, the beer looked and tasted fantastic. This is really what I enjoy in this style, and I was very impressed with how well balanced and delicious this beer was. I purchased this at random, having never heard of it before, whilst here in Denmark, and I'm very happy I found this beer, would definitely drink it again! Only real reason I marked this down is because of how light the smell was. I would of liked a little bit more than what was there. But that's really a minor issue compared to the rest.

Seriously, we have never seen a head this dark; the color even pushes the envelope of black. Sweetness in the nose of burnt dried plums, chocolate and espresso. Very viscous, crispness is all tied up in the syrupy body. Dried plum? Sure. Ripe cherries as well. Then the onslaught of charred grain. Alcohol is very warm, but the choco-like flavors weigh it down a bit. Boozy, charred wood, ripe cherries and dried plums again in the finish. Skål to epic beer!

The flavor is roasted malts, black licorice, alcohol and a little coffee and dark fruits with a pretty big charred bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with smooth creamy carbonation.

Overall, for the first couple of sips, I thought it was too over the top with too much alcohol and charred bitterness. But as I drank the rest of the bottle, it smoothed out and the flavors blended better and weren't as abrasive. In the end, I liked it. It's a bit pricey for a regular buy though at $10 a bottle.

Pours a ridiculously inky, jet black with a small milk chocolate brown head that fizzles out after a couple minutes. This beer looks evil. Smells roasty, charr, bittersweet chocolate, anise, black cherries, alcohol fumes. Taste is huge and deeply complex. Starts off with huge ripe dark fruits, figs, raisins up front and then melds into this amazing roasty, burnt charr flavor with a smokiness that I would associate with peat, and some anise....this finish is LOOONG. God, viscous mouthfeel but not as heavy as I would have thought, judging by the look of it...perfect amount of carbonation for the style. Semi-dry finish. This is truly a phenomenal beer. A good RIS is typically a "man's beer" but this is a man's RIS. Holy crap!

Thanks to my brother for bringing this beer back to me from Lafayette, LA.

Batch 210 bottled 1/20/09. The beer pours black with a mocha-colored head. The aroma is dark fruit and chocolate. The flavor is dark fruit with some coffee and chocolate characteristics. The alcohol is fairly well hidden. The mouthfeel is chewy and nice and thick while the carbonation is low. A nice, fruity Russian Imperial Stout that lived up to its high rating.

Odin's Tipple--a beer that I liked so much I special-ordered a case of it--announces from the get-go that it means serious business. The aromas that ooze out of the bottle in fog-like thickness are reminiscent of bourbon and cognac, mixed with milk chocolate, coffee, tobacco, and heavy cream, and thus remind me of a very expensive country club soiree.

On the tongue, the beer is even darker than the nose implies, beginning with a massive shot of black malt, coffee, tobacco ash, bourbon, and vanilla that promises to remove the enamel off your teeth if left too long. Dark fruit esters such as black cherries, figs, and raisins play merry havoc with the tastebuds. Towards the end of the mouthful--if the brew is held there for a good score of seconds--the beer can get a bit alcoholic as the sugars die off, and a heavy vodka undercurrent exposes itself, marking one of the beer's few weaknesses. But at 11% ABV, it's actually more remarkable that this flavor isn't present in the main mouthful, which speaks highly of the beer's potent flavors. When swallowed with relative quickness, the aftertaste is a lovely cacophony of black malt, char, and tobacco, with just a hint of heavy cream sweetness. Mouthfeel is a creamy medium-heavy, and carbonation is medium to medium-light.

Overall, this is a fantastic brew, though obviously not intended for anyone who is not serious about black flavors so big that it usually takes me about ninety minutes to finish off the half-liter bottle; I honestly can't sip the beer faster than that, as it becomes overwhelming. But overwhelming in a good way, like submerging your head into a swimming pool of melted chocolate, or trying to shotgun a bottle of 40-year-old whiskey. In other words, this is a sipping beer. So pull up a chair, enjoy the sunset, and be merry. You're going to be there for a while.

Poured from a bottle purchased in a snow storm by my beautiful wife in Lousiville, at the Louisville Beer Store.

Pours jet black with a thick mocha head. The lacing is luxurious, viscous and oily. The taste changes dramatically as it warms, as is true with any grand brew. It's almost smokey to a fault when cold but warm, tobacco in a glass. Lots of earth and some dark cordial cherry without the overt sweetness. The mouthfeel is slick up front with a very bitter finish. One hell of a great beer that I'd enjoy pairing with something sweet and tart in the future, a cobler perhaps? Gr8 brew. Thanks Chez!

Dark brown without crossing over to black, a dark brown head rises up minimally and then receds back to a soapy mass of lopsided bubbles.

Aroma of cocoa and espresso, some bourbon notes. An alcohol sting rises up.

Rich flavor of cocoa and espresso, licorice and smoke, some leather, notes of bourbon, currant, sharp unsweetened chocolate and brown sugar. Assertive bitterness balances, but no hop flavors coming through. High ABV does not detract of give a boozey feel.

Pours black as black can be with a one-finger dark brown head. The head recedes into a thin layer on top leaving solid lacing.

Smells of robust roasted malts, dark chocolate, and molasses, in that order. As it warms the malt flavors gain complexity and hints of dark fruits enter into things.

Tastes similar to how it smells. Roasted malt flavors up front are joined by sweet molasses and dark chocolate flavors almost immediately. Midway through the sip mild amounts of dark fruit flavors - plums and raisins - enter into things and fade out before a mildly bitter endingn.

Mouthfeel is very good. It's got a very nice thickness with soft yet assertive carbonation.

Drinkability is also good. I finished my glass very easily, especially for an 11.0% beer, and could easily have another.

Overall this beer lived up to the (admittedly subdued) hype. A very well done RIS and one that's well worth a shot.

Pours a super inky brown that coalesces into murky blackness in the glass. There's a decent quarter-inch sized head that's a darker shade of tan, leaving a lot of sticky lacing that clumps against the glass in spots and streaks. Nose is interesting. Initially it smells a bit like paint thinner(?!), but that quickly transitions into the dark, semi-sweet baker's chocolate aroma that I love smelling out of my stouts. God, it almost smells like a batch of fresh brownies. Wow, just wow. With a few concentrated whiffs, there's some roasted coffee, dark fruits and a slight bit of booziness that can be detected.

Taste is roasted malts to start, with the dark cocoa from the smell following up and permeating the entire flavor experience. Lots of bittersweet chocolate everywhere, along with hints of dried figs, dates and plums. Nuances of caramel and vanilla also come through. The bitter coffee and chocolate show up again on the back end, providing a little bit of a lingering aftertaste. As it warms, there's just a slight hint of alcohol warmth, but not very much. Very complex, very tasty. I'm impressed. Mouthfeel is silky smooth, with a fullish body and just the right amount of carbonation leading into the drying finish. Eminently pleasing through and through.

Drinkability is excellent. You don't really detect the 11% ABV, so that coupled with the fact that the taste is wonderfully complex and flavorful makes this brew one to be reckoned with. I dunno what a tipple is, but I know that Odin's is damn delicious. I definitely need to have this superb Russian Imperial Stout again.